Calculator

Freelance Rate Calculator / Salary Tool

Enter the yearly income you want to see your hourly rate, or start from a rate to see your yearly income.

What should I charge per hour?

Yearly income I want, before taxes

Charge at least

$71/hour

Assumes 30 billable hours a week, 11 months a year. Change

Is that realistic? See real rates →

What will I earn at my rate?

Rate per hour$91

You could earn

$129,129/year

About $10,761 a month, before taxes and expenses.

Your schedule (used by both answers)

Billable hours per week30 hrs

Months worked per year11 mo

Next step

Put $71/hour on your next invoice

Invoice Penguin, our free invoice maker from the team behind ContractRates, turns your hours and rate into a PDF invoice you can download or send. Add a line for your hours and enter $71 as the rate. No signup needed.

Example line10 hrs × $71$710

Make the invoice

How the math works

Annual income = hourly rate × hours per week × (months worked × 4.3 weeks per month). The 4.3 factor is the average number of weeks in a month across a year. Working backwards, the rate you need = yearly target ÷ (hours per week × months worked × 4.3), rounded up to the next dollar. The result is gross income — set aside room for taxes, health insurance, software, and unbillable time before comparing it to a salary.

A common rule of thumb when converting a salary to a freelance rate: take the equivalent hourly salary figure and add 25–50% to cover self-employment taxes, benefits, and the gaps between contracts.

Compare against real rates

Crowdsourced averages from verified submissions:

Ready to raise your rate? Start with the best paying freelance jobs or a rate increase email template.

Freelance Rate Calculator / Salary Tool

What should I charge per hour?

What will I earn at my rate?

How the math works

Compare against real rates

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What should I charge per hour?

What will I earn at my rate?